Breakfast has never been my friend.

My poor mother, struggled the entire time I was growing up trying to figure out what I should eat for breakfast. I’ve never had an appetite in the morning… food just doesn’t sound good to me until 10 or 11:00 in the morning. I recently met with a dietitian who reminded me what breakfast means (breaking your fast) and that if you don’t eat within an hour so of when you wake up your body thinks your starving and will convert your calories to fat when you do start eating. She suggested that I start my day with a snack (like a handful of nuts or a spoonful of yogurt) when I first get up and then eat my real breakfast after I drop the kids off at school and take my walk! Genius! Making that one simple change has me excited about breakfast again. The snack in the morning is kickstarting my metabolism and by the time I get home from my walk I have an appetite for breakfast. The other thing that has me excited about breakfast again is chia! Chia… where have you been all my life? Chia is delicious, nutritious and makes breakfast taste like dessert! The seeds are virtually tasteless, so they pick up whatever flavor you put them in. When you add them to liquid the little seeds swell up with liquid, taking on the flavor and making them similar in texture to tiny tapioca pearls. I’ve been trying a bunch of paleo/clean eating recipes recently (coconut flour tortillas, sprouted peanut butter, homemade coconut & almond milk…) while all of them have been delicious I think the chia breakfast puddings have been my favorite, so I’m so excited to share this recipe with you.

A few health benefits of chia:

Full of fiber

Packed with Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Has a healthy dose of calcium

Loaded with protein

Prevents blood sugar spikes

I’m having a ton of fun experimenting with chia, and I’m sure some of the flavors I play with will end up making it into recipes on the site soon! Here is my current favorite chia breakfast pudding.

Add 4 tablespoons of chia seeds, cover and shake. Leave on your counter for approximately 30 minutes, shake again and then put in your fridge overnight.

Spoon into a bowl, add your favorite mix ins (I love putting a pinch of coconut and fresh raspberries on top) and serve. Leftovers will last for a few days in an airtight container in the fridge.

Once you have this basic recipe down there are so many different variations that you can try! Experiment mixing in different fruits, types of milks and other flavors! I find chia to be really filling. This recipe would make 4 breakfasts for me or 2 breakfasts for my husband. The bowl in the picture has 1/4 of this chia pudding recipe in it.

Tell me… have you ever experimented with chia? What are some of your favorite paleo and clean eating recipes?